On her wedding day, Alice learns that her husband is leaving her. At 49, she suddenly finds herself alone and unemployed. To escape for a few weeks and gain some distance, she accepts the first request on a house-swapping platform: Guernsey, the second largest of the Channel Islands between England and France. Perhaps she can figure out what to do next there, far away from Hamburg. Is it possible to change direction in the middle of life? How will that work? And what does she actually expect from the second half of her life? Alice literally takes the plunge into cold water: in Guernsey, she becomes a free swimmer in the open sea. And she meets people whose friendship gives her strength, confidence, and new opportunities.